Carolyn Marvin, 78, said she is exercising her First Amendment right to protest — and will do it again.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/53250107

Police confirmed they had responded to a report of “criminal mischief involving a robot” on the 1200 block of Filbert Street around 1:16 p.m. on Wednesday. A woman on the scene ignored “multiple commands” to move, they said, resulting in a criminal violation notice for disorderly conduct.

Uber declined to comment.

Marvin, who plans to contest the charge on the grounds of her First Amendment right to protest, has been undeterred by the arrest. She plans to continue blocking Uber Eats robots and chatting with curious passersby who ask what she’s doing.

“It allows me to talk to people about what’s going on,” she said. “It’s always very interesting conversations that we have, and I think it’s good to have those kinds of conversations in public space.”

    • LilB0kChoy@reddthat.comEnglish
      12·
      10 hours ago

      After looking at the Philadelphia statute for disorderly conduct I’m assuming it’s based off this:

      Obstructing a Highway or other Public Passage. No person shall, without legal privilege to do so, intentionally or recklessly obstruct a highway, sidewalk, or other public passage.

      • bthest@lemmy.worldEnglish
        111·
        9 hours ago

        I want to know WHO was she obstructing? Sidewalks are for people. Are the cops going to make sure stray animals have full access as well?

        • southsamurai (he/him/pronoun agnostic)@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          91·
          8 hours ago

          Anyone trying to navigate that section of the sidewalk.

          It’s still bullshit, and it’s still a first amendment issue as it is a form of protest.

          But standing somewhere, blocking a public space is obstructing the flow of traffic, and meets the standard. Being arrested is part and parcel of protest because legal challenges form precedent. Sometimes you want to be arrested for both visibility and that opportunity to challenge a law, or otherwise shift things.

          Blocking the robot isn’t the same as blocking a human. But blocking robot did block other humans. They had to navigate around it. Rubbernecking is inevitable. You’ve got the people interested in what she’s doing and why standing there too. In terms of whether or not she violated that law, there’s zero doubt she did.

          And that’s part of the process of changing that law, hopefully